In 1972, there were no mountain bikes, snowboards and damned few snowmobiles.

There were no AWD SUVs.
(Getting around was a lot harder.)

There were no GPSs, only tattered maps and dinged-up compasses.
(It was a lot easier to get lost.)

There was no yuppie 911.
(You were pretty much on your own.)

There were no X-Games, only the Olympics.

There were no real-time blogs from Everest, only handwritten postcards with exotic stamps that usually arrived at their destination long after the sender returned home.

There was no Eisenhower Tunnel, only Loveland Pass.
(Boy, was that ever dangerous!)

There was no Eagles Nest Wilderness, only the Gore Range.

M. John Fayhee is the editor of the Mountain Gazette. He lives in Silver City NM. His blog, War Paint, can be found at mountaingazette.com.

A comparison of Edward Abbey and Hunter S. Thompson by Fayhee